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Monday, September 29, 2014

Those students who are assigned six-week grades have received them as of this writing (4:10pm, 29 September 2014). Many will note that the grades are lower than could be wished; the chief reason is non-submission of work. Several students also lost points for absences (which are not recorded on D2L at this time).

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Seventeen attended, as verified by a brief writing exercise.

Discussion asked after progress on the IP before introducing the EAR and discussing noun/pronoun and subject/verb agreement. Student participation was restrained.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as had been true in Section 004. Student participation was adequate.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. All attended, as verified by written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same material as earlier sections. Student participation was good.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion asked after progress on the IP before attending to concerns of ethics at some length and graphics at much less. Mentioned also were six-week grades (for those students who will receive them; not all in ENGL 3323 will). Student participation was relatively good.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Sixteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as had been the case in Section 004. Student participation was somewhat less than in previous meetings.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Seventeen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as had been the case in earlier sections, if with a bit more off-topic talk. Student participation was good.

Class began at 12:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 301. The class roster listed 26 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Twenty-four attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion asked after progress on the annotated bibliography before touching on discussion postings and grades and treating the natures of monstrosity and humanity. Student participation was relatively good.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fourteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered concerns of the IP and components of analytical reports. Student participation was somewhat impeded. Instructor performance suffered due to head congestion and concomitant distraction.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same material as had been the case in the earlier section. Student participation was much improved from the previous class. Instructor performance was less negatively affected by earlier-noted concerns.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Seventeen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same material as had earlier sections. Student participation was a bit less than in previous classes. Instructor performance was impeded a bit more by aforementioned circumstances than had been the case for Section 006.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Thirteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered progress on the IP and concerns of activity reports. Student participation was lower than at the previous class meeting.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified by a quiz.

Discussion covered much the same material as had been the case in Section 004. Student participation was better after the quiz than before it.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Sixteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as had been the case in earlier sections. Student participation was relatively good.

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Seventeen attended, as verified by sign-in sheet.

Discussion asked after the recently submitted JobP and progress on the IP before covering concerns of research and verification of sources. Student participation was good.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. SIxteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same material as had that in Section 004. Student participation was acceptable. Problems with classroom technology complicated lecture somewhat.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as had earlier sections. Student participation was good.

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students, unchanged since last class meeting. Seventeen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion discussed the JobP and IP before treating comma use and assorted other punctuation. Student participation was as expected.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students, unchanged since last class meeting. Eighteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as Section 004. Student participation was as expected.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students, unchanged since last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as the earlier sections. Student participation was as expected.

Students in all sections are reminded that class meets in Morrill Hall 106, the Electronic Classroom, on Friday, 12 September 2014. Those who have not submitted their EC policy agreement forms will not be admitted and will be counted absent therefore.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Eighteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion touched on the submitted Collaborative Project Planning Document, the JobP, and the IP before going into detail about design principles. Student participation was relatively good, with some excellent questions being voiced.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Eighteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as had been the case in Section 004. Student participation was not as good as usual.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Sixteen attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same materials as earlier sections. Student participation was good. Notably, one student from the section came in for consultation during office hours, and another attended an appointment after class, which is likely to be of benefit; other students are encouraged to follow the examples.

Class began at 12:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 301. The class roster listed 26 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Twenty-three attended, as verified by a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered concerns of the abstract and online discussion postings before reprising some vocabulary from the last class meeting and treating theme. Much attention was given to "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children." Student participation was quite good overall.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Class began at 12:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 301. The class roster listed 26 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Twenty-three attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered concerns of the abstract and symbolic language. Student participation was good.

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered continuing concerns of the JobP and the Collaborative Project Planning Document, as well as introducing the IP and treating concerns of proposals, generally. Specifically addressed were issues of purposes of communication. Student participation was acceptable, although there are still students who need to improve in that regard.

Section 006
Class began at 12:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Sixteen attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered the JobP, Collaborative Project Planning Document, the IP, and proposals in general. Prescriptivism and descriptivism were treated in brief. Student participation was somewhat limited.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since the last class meeting. Fifteen attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same concerns as had that in Section 006. Student participation was generally good, although some students still need to improve their performance in that regard.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Section 004
Class began at 11:30am in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Sixteen attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered the first portion of the JobP as well as concerns of the remaining portion of it and the Collaborative Project Planning Document. Concerns of groups and teams were also discussed, and Robert's Rules of Order was noted as a standard reference for conduct of group meetings. Student participation was overall good, although some few students could still improve their performance in that regard.

Section 006
Class began at 1:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 208. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. All attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same material as had that in Section 004. Student participation was overall good, although some few students need significant improvement in that area.

Section 007
Class began at 2:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 306. The class roster listed 19 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Fourteen attended, as verified through a brief written exercise.

Discussion covered much the same material as earlier sections. Student participation was generally good.

Class began at 12:30pm in Morrill Hall Room 301. The class roster listed 26 students enrolled, unchanged since last class meeting. Twenty-three attended, as verified through a quiz.

Discussion covered concerns of the abstract and of setting. Mention was made of such concepts as Coleridge's willing suspension of disbelief, verisimilitude, Tolkien's assertions about secondary creations in "On Fairy-stories," and Hobb's assertions about the value of depicting the mundane in "5000 Words about Myself." Student participation needs improvement from a number of students.

Students are reminded that the information on the quizzes derives directly and explicitly from assigned readings and lectures.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Students, please find below an example of an abstract I drafted for submission to the International Congress on Medieval Studies. While it is not formatted as those you are asked to submit should be (for which guidelines look here), its content is of the kind requested. Use it as a model for your own work.While its appeal has waxed and waned,
the myth of the American cowboy is one that endures in the United States,
continuing to appear in print and on screens big, small, and digital. Although
individual depictions vary, some common features of the paragon of the Western man
appear across decades and in the works of various authors and other artists. The
cowboy is of European descent, most commonly of English extraction (although he
necessarily associates with people of other ethnic backgrounds), frequently
coming from a landed background and having military or militaristic experience.
He is indelibly associated with life on horseback, and commonly carries weapons
for use at long range and in close quarters. More to the point, he lives
according to a strict code of honor, demanding self-reliance and grit in
fighting and holding those who are less able to protect themselves in high
regard; his honor calls for the cowboy to “ride for the brand,” being loyal
even to the point of death to the landed owner of a particular mark or to the
land and mark itself.In this, the American
cowboy is markedly similar to the knight of Arthurian romance. Not only is he
akin to those who sit at the Round Table in his surface features, but in many
cases, his narrative patterns follow those employed by Malory, the Gawain-poet, their forebears, or their Victorian
medievalist successors, following a single character for a time in additive
adventures that end up repeating their own tropes again and again. His
appearances in the writings of such authors as William W. Johnstone exemplify
the parallels neatly, demonstrating that the Arthurian knight continues to be
refigured and reappropriated in the early twenty-first century.